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Trying to be happy can be a tricky business. Like many of us, I wake each day looking for happiness, as well as its corollary, peace of mind. After years of searching, I have discovered that no one person or thing is enough in itself to always ensure my happiness - not loved ones, friends or family, education or lack thereof, a paycheck, a perfect therapist, a perfect cocktail, good nutrition, physical conditioning, or a spiritual outlook on life.
What I have found is that happiness is all in our heads - and what's going on in my head is a bit strange to think about. After all, our brains are made up of a bunch of soft, gelatinous "stuff" resting in an electrochemical bath. Without thick skulls and inner layers of shock absorbers, we literally wouldn't be able to keep our heads together. So how is it that despite this we can hope for - and often find - something so abstract as happiness?
This is when my thoughts turn to alchemy. Alchemy was the ancient pursuit of trying to change base metals into gold. By the 19th century, however, modern chemistry replaced alchemy and people came to believe in the Periodic Table of Elements, which proved that new matter could not be generated from existing matter. Alchemy became looked upon as a pseudo-science, the mere product of hopeful imagination. So how is it that we as human beings are more than the sum of our brain chemistry?
We are more than the sum of our components because we possess a gift that is more valuable than gold. That gift is our own volition, an element that will never be found on the Periodic Table. Volition gives us free will, allowing us to create and recreate our emotional and physical world in complex and unfathomable ways. We can choose - at any moment - to use multiple intelligences and reasoning powers to create new, richer and happier realities for ourselves.
Volition is not the same as self-will. It cannot not keep us from our own painful truths, "irrational" feelings and paralyzing vulnerabilities. Volition is a gift that works best when combined with chemistry - that is, the chemistry of other people's minds. Because when two or more people connect, new matter is generated from limited, existing matter. By allowing ourselves the experience the power of our own volition we give ourselves the potentiality of hope, faith and change. So activate yourself today. Talk to someone. Something as simple as a smile can begin to bring the magic of alchemy into your life.
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Links & Resources
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